Critical to the proper operation of electronic systems is temperature control. The electronic components in these systems can generate much heat, which, unless quickly dissipated, can negatively affect the operational characteristics of those and other components and lead to system failure. As is known in the art, air is typically used to cool electronic components stored within system cabinets. One technique for such cooling is to mount a fan in an aperture in the top of such cabinets. Such a fan creates an air flow through the cabinet, cooling the housed electrical components.
However, since fans can only move ambient air over the electronic components, the ability of the fans to cool the components is limited. Also, as the power requirements of the components increases, the components generate increased amounts of heat that must be removed from the cabinet. This situation is exacerbated if one or more of the fans in the cabinet fails, which could result in a failure of components of the system.